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U.S. Sen. John McCain on Friday floated an unexpected — and unlikely — name to replace Eric Shinseki as Veterans Affairs secretary: His Republican U.S. Senate colleague Tom Coburn of Oklahoma.

Shinseki, a retired four-star Army general, resigned over a scandal involving the manipulation of patient wait time data and other misconduct at the Phoenix VA Health Care System and other VA facilities around the country. Sloan Gibson, deputy secretary of Veterans Affairs, temporarily takes over for Shinseki as acting VA chief, but President Barack Obama indicated he will nominate a permanent new VA secretary.

"He is a doctor, he is very familiar with the Veterans Affairs issue, he is the greatest reformer in the United States Senate, and I believe that Dr. Tom Coburn would be the best possible replacement for General Shinseki," McCain, R-Ariz., told reporters after a town hall-style meeting with employees of MD Helicopters in Mesa. "And I am also aware that Dr. Coburn will want to kill me after I have said this."

Coburn, who has struggled with prostate cancer, announced in January that he would leave the Senate at the end of the current Congress, two years before his term ends.

McCain and Coburn are longtime friends and allies, with Coburn campaigning for McCain's 2008 presidential campaign in the key early primary state of South Carolina. McCain also is working closely with Coburn and U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., on a legislative VA reform package that McCain said will be introduced in the Senate on Tuesday.

"He has some health issues, but he is, I think, perfectly well-equipped to address these issues," McCain said. "And he knows how to reform bureaucracies, and that's what this is all about. Besides his medical background."

However, it doesn't appear Coburn is interested in the VA secretary job.

"That's a very nice compliment, but Dr. Coburn is looking forward to leaving the Senate after he helps reform the VA along with Senators McCain and Burr," Coburn spokesman John Hart said in an e-mail to The Arizona Republic.

During the Mesa event, McCain offered more free advice to Obama, his 2008 White House rival.

"It's going to require some presidential leadership," McCain said. "I would call in, for example, (former Army Gen. and CIA Director) David Petraeus, one of the most respected generals ever in our history, or one of the others like him, and say, 'O.K., put together a team — health-care experts, veterans, military — and you come up in two weeks with a plan.' ... Work with Congress, work with us, and fix it. Every day that goes by, unfortunately, another veteran goes without the care that they've earned."

In other developments:

* Rob Nabors, the White House deputy chief of staff who Obama tapped as his VA troubleshooter, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., share a connection. They got to know each other when Flake was an anti-earmark crusader in the U.S. House of Representatives and Nabors was a top Democratic staff member on the House Appropriations Committee.

"I like him personally," Flake said. "I dealt with him for quite a while over in the House. ... Obviously, he didn't agree with us on the earmark thing, but it has always been friendly. He's a nice guy. He called as soon as he was named, and he met with my staff in Phoenix. So he's reached out, and I give him kudos for that."

* Maura Cordova's last day as U.S. Rep. Ed Pastor's longtime press secretary is Friday. Cordova, a former Republic reporter, has worked for the retiring Pastor, D-Ariz., since 1993. She called Pastor "a great boss and mentor," but said he encouraged his staff to start job-hunting immediately upon his February announcement that he would not seek re-election this year.

Cordova is joining JPMorgan Chase as regional media relations and communications manager-vice president for Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.

Nowicki is The Republic's national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki.